diff --git a/src/components/App.vue b/src/components/App.vue
index 01e98d7..fb9ad86 100644
--- a/src/components/App.vue
+++ b/src/components/App.vue
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 <script>
     import StatusBar from './StatusBar.vue'
     import Editor from './Editor.vue'
-
+    import LanguageSelector from './LanguageSelector.vue'
 
     export default {
         components: {
             Editor,
             StatusBar,
+            LanguageSelector,
         },
 
         data() {
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@
                 initialTheme: window.darkMode.initial,
                 systemTheme: 'system',
                 development: window.location.href.indexOf("dev=1") !== -1,
+                showLanguageSelector: false,
             }
         },
 
@@ -56,35 +58,65 @@
                 this.language = e.language
                 this.languageAuto = e.languageAuto
             },
+
+            openLanguageSelector() {
+                this.showLanguageSelector = true
+            },
+
+            closeLanguageSelector() {
+                this.showLanguageSelector = false
+                this.$refs.editor.focus()
+            },
+
+            onLanguageSelect(language) {
+                this.showLanguageSelector = false
+                this.$refs.editor.setLanguage(language)
+            },
         },
     }
 
 </script>
 
 <template>
-    <Editor 
-        @cursorChange="onCursorChange"
-        :theme="theme"
-        :development="development"
-        class="editor"
-    />
-    <StatusBar 
-        :line="line" 
-        :column="column" 
-        :language="language" 
-        :languageAuto="languageAuto"
-        :theme="theme"
-        :systemTheme="systemTheme"
-        @toggleTheme="toggleTheme"
-        class="status" 
-    />
+    <div class="container">
+        <Editor 
+            @cursorChange="onCursorChange"
+            :theme="theme"
+            :development="development"
+            class="editor"
+            ref="editor"
+            @openLanguageSelector="openLanguageSelector"
+        />
+        <StatusBar 
+            :line="line" 
+            :column="column" 
+            :language="language" 
+            :languageAuto="languageAuto"
+            :theme="theme"
+            :systemTheme="systemTheme"
+            @toggleTheme="toggleTheme"
+            @openLanguageSelector="openLanguageSelector"
+            class="status" 
+        />
+        <div class="overlay">
+            <LanguageSelector 
+                v-if="showLanguageSelector" 
+                @select="onLanguageSelect"
+                @close="closeLanguageSelector"
+            />
+        </div>
+    </div>
 </template>
 
 <style scoped lang="sass">
-    .editor
-        height: calc(100% - 21px)
-    .status
-        position: absolute
-        bottom: 0
-        left: 0
+    .container
+        width: 100%
+        height: 100%
+        position: relative
+        .editor
+            height: calc(100% - 21px)
+        .status
+            position: absolute
+            bottom: 0
+            left: 0
 </style>
diff --git a/src/components/Editor.vue b/src/components/Editor.vue
index b060942..3454dda 100644
--- a/src/components/Editor.vue
+++ b/src/components/Editor.vue
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 Welcome to Heynote!
 
 [${modChar} + Enter]        Insert new note block
+[${modChar} + L]            Change block language
 [${modChar} + Down]         Goto next block
 [${modChar} + Up]           Goto previous block
 [${modChar} + A]            Select all text in a note block. Press again to select the whole scratchpad
@@ -32,6 +33,10 @@ Welcome to Heynote!
                 })
             })
 
+            this.$refs.editor.addEventListener("openLanguageSelector", (e) => {
+                this.$emit("openLanguageSelector")
+            })
+
             this.editor = new HeynoteEditor({
                 element: this.$refs.editor,
                 content: this.development ? testContent : initialContent,
@@ -44,6 +49,21 @@ Welcome to Heynote!
                 this.editor.setTheme(newTheme)
             },
         },
+
+        methods: {
+            setLanguage(language) {
+                if (language === "auto") {
+                    this.editor.setCurrentLanguage("text", true)
+                } else {
+                    this.editor.setCurrentLanguage(language, false)
+                }
+                this.editor.focus()
+            },
+
+            focus() {
+                this.editor.focus()
+            },
+        },
     }
 </script>
 
diff --git a/src/components/LanguageSelector.vue b/src/components/LanguageSelector.vue
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3c03b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/LanguageSelector.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+<script>
+    import { LANGUAGES } from '../editor/languages.js'
+
+    const items = LANGUAGES.map(l => {
+        return {
+            "token": l.token, 
+            "name": l.name
+        }
+    }).sort((a, b) => {
+        return a.name.localeCompare(b.name)
+    })
+    items.unshift({token: "auto", name:"Auto-detect"})
+
+    export default {
+        data() {
+            return {
+                selected: 0,
+                filter: "",
+            }
+        },
+
+        mounted() {
+            this.$refs.container.focus()
+            this.$refs.input.focus()
+        },
+
+        computed: {
+            filteredItems() {
+                return items.filter((lang) => {
+                    return lang.name.toLowerCase().indexOf(this.filter.toLowerCase()) !== -1
+                })
+            },
+        },
+
+        methods: {
+            onKeydown(event) {
+                if (event.key === "ArrowDown") {
+                    this.selected = Math.min(this.selected + 1, this.filteredItems.length - 1)
+                    event.preventDefault()
+                } else if (event.key === "ArrowUp") {
+                    this.selected = Math.max(this.selected - 1, 0)
+                    event.preventDefault()
+                } else if (event.key === "Enter") {
+                    this.$emit("select", this.filteredItems[this.selected].token)
+                    event.preventDefault()
+                } else if (event.key === "Escape") {
+                    this.$emit("close")
+                    event.preventDefault()
+                }
+            },
+
+            onInput(event) {
+                // reset selection
+                this.selected = 0
+            },
+
+            onFocusOut(event) {
+                let container = this.$refs.container
+                if (container !== event.relatedTarget && !container.contains(event.relatedTarget)) {
+                    this.$emit("close")
+                }
+            },
+        }
+    }
+</script>
+
+<template>
+    <form class="language-selector" tabindex="-1" @focusout="onFocusOut" ref="container">
+        <input 
+            type="text" 
+            ref="input"
+            @keydown="onKeydown"
+            @input="onInput"
+            v-model="filter"
+        />
+        <ul class="items">
+            <li
+                v-for="item, idx in filteredItems"
+                :key="item.token"
+                :class="idx === selected ? 'selected' : ''"
+                @click="$emit('select', item.token)"
+            >
+                {{ item.name }}
+            </li>
+        </ul>
+    </form>
+</template>
+
+<style scoped lang="sass">
+    =dark-mode()
+        @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark)
+            @content
+    
+    .language-selector
+        font-size: 13px
+        padding: 10px
+        //background: #48b57e
+        background: #efefef
+        position: absolute
+        top: 0
+        left: 50%
+        transform: translateX(-50%)
+        border-radius: 0 0 5px 5px
+        box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0,0,0,0.3)
+        +dark-mode
+            background: #151516
+        input
+            background: #fff
+            padding: 4px 5px
+            border: 1px solid #ccc
+            box-sizing: border-box
+            border-radius: 2px
+            width: 400px
+            margin-bottom: 10px
+            &:focus
+                outline: none
+                border: 1px solid #fff
+                outline: 2px solid #48b57e
+            +dark-mode
+                background: #3b3b3b
+                border: 1px solid #5a5a5a
+                &:focus
+                    border: 1px solid #3b3b3b
+        
+        .items
+            > li
+                border-radius: 3px
+                padding: 5px 12px
+                cursor: pointer
+                &:hover
+                    background: #e2e2e2
+                &.selected
+                    background: #48b57e
+                    color: #fff
+                +dark-mode
+                    color: rgba(255,255,255, 0.53)
+                    &:hover
+                        background: #29292a
+                    &.selected
+                        background: #1b6540
+                        color: rgba(255,255,255, 0.87)
+</style>
diff --git a/src/components/StatusBar.vue b/src/components/StatusBar.vue
index 2c06013..2d00999 100644
--- a/src/components/StatusBar.vue
+++ b/src/components/StatusBar.vue
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@
             Col <span class="num">{{ column }}</span>
         </div>
         <div class="spacer"></div>
-        <div class="status-block lang clickable">
+        <div 
+            @click="$emit('openLanguageSelector')"
+            class="status-block lang clickable"
+        >
             {{ languageName }} 
             <span v-if="languageAuto" class="auto">(auto)</span>
         </div>
@@ -61,6 +64,7 @@
         padding-right: 0px
         display: flex
         flex-direction: row
+        align-items: center
         user-select: none
 
         +dark-mode
diff --git a/src/css/application.sass b/src/css/application.sass
index aca682d..0c9634f 100644
--- a/src/css/application.sass
+++ b/src/css/application.sass
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+@import "reset"
 @import "font"
 @import "base"
diff --git a/src/css/base.sass b/src/css/base.sass
index 8c5074f..8225fba 100644
--- a/src/css/base.sass
+++ b/src/css/base.sass
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ html, body
     padding: 0
     background: #fff
     color: #444
-    font-family: 'Gill Sans','Gill Sans MT',Calibri,'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif
+    font-family: "Open Sans"
     height: 100%
     font-size: 12px
     overscroll-behavior-y: none
diff --git a/src/css/reset.sass b/src/css/reset.sass
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd5e747
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/css/reset.sass
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+html, body, div, span, applet, object, iframe, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre, a, abbr, acronym, address, big, cite, code, del, dfn, em, img, ins, kbd, q, s, samp, small, strike, strong, sub, sup, tt, var, b, u, i, center, dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li, fieldset, form, label, legend, table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td, article, aside, canvas, details, embed, figure, figcaption, footer, header, hgroup, menu, nav, output, ruby, section, summary, time, mark, audio, video
+    margin: 0
+    padding: 0
+    border: 0
+    font-size: 100%
+    font: inherit
+    vertical-align: baseline
+
+/* HTML5 display-role reset for older browsers */
+article, aside, details, figcaption, figure, footer, header, hgroup, menu, nav, section
+    display: block
+
+body
+    line-height: 1
+
+ol, ul 
+    list-style: none
+
+blockquote, q
+    quotes: none
+
+blockquote:before, blockquote:after, q:before, q:after
+    content: ''
+    content: none
+
+table
+    border-collapse: collapse
+    border-spacing: 0
+
+input
+    font-size: 1em
diff --git a/src/editor/block/block.js b/src/editor/block/block.js
index 5746f4b..7a67c2c 100644
--- a/src/editor/block/block.js
+++ b/src/editor/block/block.js
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ const blockLineNumbers = lineNumbers({
     }
 })
 
-const emitCursorChange = (element) => ViewPlugin.fromClass(
+const emitCursorChange = (editor) => ViewPlugin.fromClass(
     class {
         update(update) {
             // if the selection changed or the language changed (can happen without selection change), 
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ const emitCursorChange = (element) => ViewPlugin.fromClass(
             if (update.selectionSet || langChange) {
                 const cursorLine = getBlockLineFromPos(update.state, update.state.selection.main.head)
                 const block = getActiveNoteBlock(update.state)
-                element.dispatchEvent(new SelectionChangeEvent({
+                editor.element.dispatchEvent(new SelectionChangeEvent({
                     cursorLine,
                     language: block?.language.name,
                     languageAuto: block?.language.auto,
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ const emitCursorChange = (element) => ViewPlugin.fromClass(
     }
 )
 
-export const noteBlockExtension = (element) => {
+export const noteBlockExtension = (editor) => {
     return [
         blockState,
         noteBlockWidget(),
@@ -304,6 +304,6 @@ export const noteBlockExtension = (element) => {
         preventFirstBlockFromBeingDeleted,
         preventSelectionBeforeFirstBlock,
         blockLineNumbers,
-        emitCursorChange(element),
+        emitCursorChange(editor),
     ]
 }
diff --git a/src/editor/block/commands.js b/src/editor/block/commands.js
index 7e80573..59ea6e5 100644
--- a/src/editor/block/commands.js
+++ b/src/editor/block/commands.js
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ export function changeLanguageTo(state, dispatch, block, language, auto) {
     }
 }
 
+export function changeCurrentBlockLanguage(state, dispatch, language, auto) {
+    const block = getActiveNoteBlock(state)
+    changeLanguageTo(state, dispatch, block, language, auto)
+}
+
 export function gotoPreviousBlock({state, dispatch}) {
     const blocks = state.facet(blockState)
     const newSelection = EditorSelection.create(state.selection.ranges.map(sel => {
diff --git a/src/editor/editor.js b/src/editor/editor.js
index a4c2577..8eb2ec5 100644
--- a/src/editor/editor.js
+++ b/src/editor/editor.js
@@ -8,18 +8,20 @@ import { heynoteBase } from "./theme/base.js"
 import { customSetup } from "./setup.js"
 import { heynoteLang } from "./lang-heynote/heynote.js"
 import { noteBlockExtension } from "./block/block.js"
+import { changeCurrentBlockLanguage } from "./block/commands.js"
 import { heynoteKeymap } from "./keymap.js"
 import { languageDetection } from "./language-detection/autodetect.js"
 
 
 export class HeynoteEditor {
     constructor({element, content, focus=true, theme="light"}) {
+        this.element = element
         this.theme = new Compartment
 
-        this.state = EditorState.create({
+        const state = EditorState.create({
             doc: content || "",
             extensions: [
-                heynoteKeymap,
+                heynoteKeymap(this),
 
                 //minimalSetup,
                 customSetup, 
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ export class HeynoteEditor {
                     return {top: 80, bottom: 80}
                 }),
                 heynoteLang(),
-                noteBlockExtension(element),
+                noteBlockExtension(this),
                 languageDetection(() => this.view),
                 
                 // set cursor blink rate to 1 second
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ export class HeynoteEditor {
         })
 
         this.view = new EditorView({
-            state: this.state,
+            state: state,
             parent: element,
         })
 
@@ -58,11 +60,23 @@ export class HeynoteEditor {
         }
     }
 
+    focus() {
+        this.view.focus()
+    }
+
     setTheme(theme) {
         this.view.dispatch({
             effects: this.theme.reconfigure(theme === "dark" ? heynoteDark : heynoteLight),
         })
     }
+
+    openLanguageSelector() {
+        this.element.dispatchEvent(new Event("open-language-selector"))
+    }
+
+    setCurrentLanguage(lang, auto=false) {
+        changeCurrentBlockLanguage(this.view.state, this.view.dispatch, lang, auto)
+    }
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/editor/keymap.js b/src/editor/keymap.js
index a0b483d..42a25e9 100644
--- a/src/editor/keymap.js
+++ b/src/editor/keymap.js
@@ -2,41 +2,48 @@ import { keymap } from "@codemirror/view"
 import { indentWithTab, insertTab, indentLess, indentMore } from "@codemirror/commands"
 import { insertNewNote, moveLineUp, selectAll, gotoPreviousBlock, gotoNextBlock } from "./block/commands.js";
 
-export const heynoteKeymap = keymap.of([
-    {
-        key: "Tab",
-        preventDefault: true,
-        //run: insertTab,
-        run: indentMore,
-    },
-    {
-        key: 'Shift-Tab',
-        preventDefault: true,
-        run: indentLess,
-    },
-    {
-        key: "Mod-Enter",
-        preventDefault: true,
-        run: insertNewNote,
-    },
-    {
-        key: "Mod-a",
-        preventDefault: true,
-        run: selectAll,
-    },
-    {
-        key: "Alt-ArrowUp",
-        preventDefault: true,
-        run: moveLineUp,
-    },
-    {
-        key: "Mod-ArrowUp",
-        preventDefault: true,
-        run: gotoPreviousBlock,
-    },
-    {
-        key: "Mod-ArrowDown",
-        preventDefault: true,
-        run: gotoNextBlock,
-    },
-])
+export function heynoteKeymap(editor) {
+    return keymap.of([
+        {
+            key: "Tab",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            //run: insertTab,
+            run: indentMore,
+        },
+        {
+            key: 'Shift-Tab',
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: indentLess,
+        },
+        {
+            key: "Mod-Enter",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: insertNewNote,
+        },
+        {
+            key: "Mod-a",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: selectAll,
+        },
+        {
+            key: "Alt-ArrowUp",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: moveLineUp,
+        },
+        {
+            key: "Mod-ArrowUp",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: gotoPreviousBlock,
+        },
+        {
+            key: "Mod-ArrowDown",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: gotoNextBlock,
+        },
+        {
+            key: "Mod-l",
+            preventDefault: true,
+            run: () => editor.openLanguageSelector(),
+        }
+    ])
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/editor/language-detection/autodetect.js b/src/editor/language-detection/autodetect.js
index 325a31f..2ba35a6 100644
--- a/src/editor/language-detection/autodetect.js
+++ b/src/editor/language-detection/autodetect.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const HIGHLIGHTJS_TO_TOKEN = Object.fromEntries(LANGUAGES.map(l => [l.highlightj
 
 
 export function languageDetection(getView) {
-    const previousBlockContent = []
+    const previousBlockContent = {}
     let idleCallbackId = null
 
     const detectionWorker = new Worker('langdetect-worker.js?worker');
@@ -50,11 +50,6 @@ export function languageDetection(getView) {
                 cancelIdleCallback(idleCallbackId)
                 idleCallbackId = null
             }
-            if (update.transactions.every(tr => tr.annotations.some(a => a.value == LANGUAGE_CHANGE))) {
-                // don't run language detection if the change was triggered by a language change
-                //console.log("ignoring check after language change")
-                return
-            }
 
             idleCallbackId = requestIdleCallback(() => {
                 idleCallbackId = null
@@ -69,7 +64,12 @@ export function languageDetection(getView) {
                         break
                     }
                 }
-                if (block === null || block.language.auto === false) {
+                if (block === null) {
+                    return
+                } else if (block.language.auto === false) {
+                    // if language is not auto, set it's previousBlockContent to null so that we'll trigger a language detection
+                    // immediately if the user changes the language to auto
+                    delete previousBlockContent[idx]
                     return
                 }